Vatican denies Pope said 1 in 50 priests are pedophiles

View full sizePope Francis waves from the pope-mobile during his inauguration Mass at St. Peter's Square. (RNS)

The Vatican is denying that Pope Francis said in an interview published Sunday that 1 in 50 Catholic priests are pedophiles, according to a story in The Los Angeles Times.

Francis was quoted in the newspaper La Repubblica as saying the priest sex scandal in the Catholic Church is a "leprosy in our house," and that Church advisers have reassured him that only "about 2 percent" of priests are pedophiles.

"This data should hearten me but I have to tell you that it does not hearten me at all. In fact, I think that it is very grave," he was quoted by the newspaper as saying.

According to papal spokesman Father Federico Lombardi, two other quotes -- one on celibacy and one in which Francis says cardinals were among the sex abusers -- are also inaccurate.

According to a story from Reuters, the La Repubblica article was a reconstruction of an hour-long conversation between the Francis and Eugenio Scalfari, the paper's 90-year-old founder.

According to the Vatican, Scalfari does not record his interviews nor transcribe them word for word, but relies on his memory of the interview.